We've been playing around with shadows lately! I've always been fascinated with shadows and how they change throughout the day!!! It is a great science lesson in helping to explain how the sun is in different positions throughout the day! We were inspired by TinkerLab's post: Drawing Shadows in which they traced shadows with different props!!! Here is Cassie and I saying "Hello" in shadow form!!!
This picture was taken in late afternoon. The shadows are about medium size.
This picture was taken around Noon and Cassie's shadow was really short!!! She kept asking, "Why am I so short???" Mom: "The sun is above us so we have a shorter shadow!"
Here is Cassie tracing my short shadow with chalk. You could trace shadows in the same spot every hour and compare them. We kind of did it a little more randomly. I kept asking throughout the day: "I wonder how our shadow looks now???"
This picture was taken in late day and we have very TALL shadows!!! These are my favorite kind of shadows of all!!! We look like GIANTS or ALIENS!!!! The sun is behind us at this point projecting our shadows into our garage.
Here is a tracing of one of Cassie's TALL shadows! We added a face and decorative stripes! This was Cassie' idea.
Here is her shadow tracing around late afternoon...not as tall, but still taller than Cassie!
I had fun tracing our bikes. This is Cassie's bike at afternoon time. Noon time bike shadows were very small and scrunched up!
Here is my bike....it is fun to see how much detail that you can get in these tracings!
Here is one of my favorite shadow pictures! I love that Cassie is on her bike. It is just a fun picture! I look forward to taking more shadow pictures!
***Another way I helped to explain how the sun is in different positions was by going into a dark room with a flashlight and one of Cassie's dolls. We pretended the sun was the flashlight and shined the light to the sides of the doll and above the doll to see what its shadow looked like. The nice thing is that you could see all the variations of shadows all within a matter of minutes!
This picture was taken in late afternoon. The shadows are about medium size.
This picture was taken around Noon and Cassie's shadow was really short!!! She kept asking, "Why am I so short???" Mom: "The sun is above us so we have a shorter shadow!"
This picture was taken in late day and we have very TALL shadows!!! These are my favorite kind of shadows of all!!! We look like GIANTS or ALIENS!!!! The sun is behind us at this point projecting our shadows into our garage.
Here is a tracing of one of Cassie's TALL shadows! We added a face and decorative stripes! This was Cassie' idea.
Here is her shadow tracing around late afternoon...not as tall, but still taller than Cassie!
I had fun tracing our bikes. This is Cassie's bike at afternoon time. Noon time bike shadows were very small and scrunched up!
Here is my bike....it is fun to see how much detail that you can get in these tracings!
Here is one of my favorite shadow pictures! I love that Cassie is on her bike. It is just a fun picture! I look forward to taking more shadow pictures!
Have you been having fun with shadows?
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That looks like so much fun!! Love the bikes!
ReplyDeleteVery creative :)
ReplyDeleteYes we this last week - here is my link - http://kreativeactivities.blogspot.com/2011/06/chasing-shadows.html
ReplyDeleteThe kids had so much fun!
Fun! It helps explain the 'day' too - what the sun does to make it day and night. We talk about where the sun comes up in the morning and where it goes down at night.
ReplyDeleteLOVE shadow exploration! Wonderful photos!
ReplyDeleteFound ya from "Outdoor Play" linky- impressed by the bike shadow trace! can't wait to try this w my 3 boys- we love to play!
ReplyDeletehow fun is that? I love this and your pictures really just make me want to go out & shadow play today! :)
ReplyDeleteBern
I love the maths and shape work that can be done with this as well as the art work. Many thanks for sharing it on the Resource Centre!
ReplyDeleteJulia
Gorgeous, Melissa! What a fun shadow adventure! Thanks for the shout-out, too :)
ReplyDeleteI love shadow play, and I have to admit that I have some similiar pictures to this - except that we took them pre-kids! haha! We've been noticing shadows too recently, but the shadows inside our house, as it's very sunny in the mornings. I love this post, thanks for sharing on Outdoor Play!
ReplyDeleteOh, we shall be doing this today! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up to my Summer Fun party. I just included this idea in my Five Fun Ideas with Science and Nature post. (Feel free to grab a "Featured" button
ReplyDeletehttp://cometogetherkids.blogspot.com/2011/06/five-fun-ideas-with-science-and-nature.html
I can't wait to see what other fun projects you do this summer.
Tis the time of year to Shadow! Loved your shadow pics and how you incorporated time of day! I also like the bike shadow. Here's our shadowing! http://thinkmagnetkids.com/2012/01/27/shadows/
ReplyDelete